Soap dispenser having a pivoted cutter



May 4, 1948. w. H. PUMPHREY SOAP DISPENSER HAVING A PIVOTED CUTTER 2 Sheets-Sheet Filfld Jan. 1, 1944 In rllflfllllllqlll IN V EN TOR.

7 1 w. H. PUMPHREY 2,441,034

SOAP DISPENSER HAVING A PIVO'I'ED CUTTER Filed Jan. 1, 1944 2 Shets-Shet 2 I N VEN TOR.

Patented May 4, 1948 mural) STATE-S ear-ear eerie-s =S'AP DISPENSER HAViNG A'PWQTED CUTTER Walter rru phrey; New York, Mr; assignor t6 Voorhis-Tiehont -Company',"'lnc.g" Red Hook, Y a corporation-of New York Application January 1, 1944,-Serial No. 516,652

(Cl.---I46-'=61) E'GIaims. 1

This invention relates to certain improvements in a soap dispenser for which United States Patent No. 2,191,003 was granted February 20, 1940, to Voorhis-Tiebout Company, Inc., as assi'gnee of Gordon Voorhis of Rhineb'eckiNew'York.

"The patented dispenser was' d'esi'gned to use soap cakes'of the form disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,011,129, granted AugustflB, 1935/00 theabove named company, in which" there is. a V-shaped groove extending throughout the length of the cake and to about its midpoint in depth. The purpose served in grooving the cakes is to save' time, labor and plantspace in the manufacture of the soap. When grooved cakes are properly stacked, through air passages are formed between the cakes bythe grooves which makes it possible to dry the cakesafterthey are packed in cases for shipment and avoids the necessity'of racking; also excessive handling and. resulting loss from breakage.

In use in the patenteddispenser, .thegroove of the cake faces outward-rand arib is" formed on the inner side ofthe frontiremovable section of the casing, that enters'thevgroove. "Theoretically,.the rib and groove serveto steady and. guidethe soap cake but, pnactiallyLthisaction .isnot requiredas the cake is snugly' ..iitt"e ;1in the soap chamber of thedispenser and cannot. shift about or become displaced.

, Further, in. the patented dispensenthe spring of the pressure plate or' follower that'advances the soap. to the cutter, is attached to the follower in therear of the soap cakeand toprevent the follower plate from being tipped lupward at its forward end by the action of theispring, arear' slide and guideare provided-to balancetheaction.

I have found by reversing the soapicaka-so that the groove races .rearwardg-the groove-may be utilized. to:serve the importantpurpose of enabling the spring of the follower to be positioned therein and attachedv centrally or s-ubstantially so, instead of-in-the -rear of the follower, which equalizes the spring pressure on: the follower anddoes awaywith .theuse 0f. tharear' slide and guides as wellas the above mentlorred guide rib on the removablesection of the cas ing.

There is also employed :inithe patentedxdispenser, a. vrotary cutter 'formed of a'number 'offi' serrated disks; arranged side by side,-.,:in spaced relation, and radially .cut and bent up at the edges to provide a series oticutter-blades. LThe only path. :for the separated soap particles :to

the delivery opening or thedispensera isethrougn 1 this very intricate cutter construction, which obiectioriably obstructs a free flow to the outlet. To partially remedy this trouble, I reduce the cutter to semi-circular or semi-Cylindricalform and oscillate it and to relievethe user of half the work. of operating the cutter, I attach the lower end off-the follower spring to it, which acts to retract-the cutter whenever it is given. motion by the user.

""Theconversion oithe cutter to a semi-circular oscillating form, gives rise to a number of panying drawings but I- do not wish to be understood as intending to limit myself to either the exactform or detailsshown, as various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as-outlinedin the appendedclaims.

In the drawings 1 is a view in side elevation, partlyin section, of one form of the improved dispenser. -Fig. 2 is a cross section on'the line s of Fig.- 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, on "an enlarged scale, ofthe spring-actuated follower employed the dispenser.

Fig, 4 is a like view of a grooved cake of the material used in the machine.

Fig. 5-.is aview similar to Fig. 1, showing a further improved form of the dispenser-,and

'FigJ'S is a detail perspective view of the operating. assembly in which the active element is indicated'by dotted lines.

"Referring now to. the drawings, i indicates the casing of' the' dispenser which is shaped to provi'de a chamber 2 for a cake 3 of soap or other materialtobe dispensed. The cake is vertically disposed irr the'chamber with its lower end restingon thebladesof a cutter 4, which may be of. any suitable or'- well known form. Delivery fronrethe cutter is by way of an opening 5 at the-lower end or: the dispenser;

.:.'I.'he cakeiof isoap or'tother material 3 is provided with a longitudinal groove 6*,or its equivalent, which extends throughout its lengthand totsubstantially.themidpoint of itslcross sectional area. r'The front iuppereporti on l -of l-the casing is removable to permit the cake to be entered in the chamber 2 and, as positioned therein, the groove 6 faces rearward. The chamber 2 conforms substantially to the cross sectional shape of the cake and serves to hold and guide it as it is advanced to the cutter.

The advance of the cake to the cutter is effected by a spring-actuated pressure plate or a follower 8, as it will be hereafter termed. The follower, in outline, conforms to the cross sectional form of the grooved cake 3 and is provided with lugs 9, 9, on opposite sides and lugs ID, ID, on the rear end, which run in vertical guide grooves H, II and I2, I2, formed in the walls of the chamber 2, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Thus guided, the follower, resting on top of the cake 3 and exerting pressure thereon, through the action of its spring I3, is prevented from jamming and free to follow the cake downward as it is reduced by the cutter.

In order to equalize the pressure of the spring l3 on and throughout the area of the follower, the spring is positioned in the groove 6, as near the center of the cake as it is practically possible to place it and it is held thus positioned by the rear wall IA of the casing which is shaped to enter the groove, as best shown in Fig. 2.

The spring is attached at its upper end to an upward extension l5 of the follower, which has a forwardly projecting portion l6 designed to serve as a finger lift for raising the follower when a new cake of material is to be entered in the dispenser. The purpose in attaching the spring above the follower, instead of directly to it, is to maintain the spring sufficiently distended, as the follower approaches the cutter, to exert the required pressure on the cake to insure effective action by the cutter.

At a point just above the cutter, the rear wall of the casing is curved outwardly at H, as a guide for the spring, which is bent rearward around the curved portion, clear of the groove in the cake, and after passing through an opening 18, in the rear wall, is bent around a re versely curved portion I9 of the casing wall and secured at 20, just above the delivery outlet. As the curved walls I! and I9 are smoothly finished, they offer no resistance to the action of the spring in expanding and contracting.

The dispenser shown in Figs. 5 and 6, differs from the above described form in two features only, otherwise they are identical.

The features referred to are first, the substitution of an oscillating for a rotary cutter and the utilization of the follower spring for retracting the cutter.

As shown in Fig. 5, the cutter 4 is designed and arranged to be given a back and forth movement by means of a lever 2| secured exteriorly of the casing on the projecting end 22 of the cutter shaft 23. As the movement of the active surface of the cutter element does not exceed 180 degrees, in oscillation, a cutter of semi-circular or semi-cylindrical form is employed, asshown.

Centrally of the cutter and extending rearward through a slot 24 in the rear curved wall i9 of the casing, an arm M is mounted fast on the shaft 23 and to the projecting end of the arm the lower end of the spring I3 is attached and serves to retract the cutter whenver the lever 2|, in the manual operation of the dispenser, is pushed back by the user. I

As the operation and the many important advantages of the machine will be apparent from '4 the foregoing, it will not be necessary to further describe the same.

Having described my invention, I claim:

A dispensing machine comprising a casing providing a chamber suitable for containing the material to be dispensed in the form of a longitudinally grooved cake, a manually actuated cutter adapted in operation to reduce the cake to powder, a follower plate resting on the cake and shaped in outline to conform substantially to the cross sectional form of the grooved cake to provide a clear passage in line with the groove, the said plate being provided with an upward extension above the body of the plate, and a continuously acting spring feed operatively positioned to exert constant pressure on the cake to advance it to the cutter by being connected at its upper end above the follower plate to the upward extension thereof, the said spring feed being positioned in the aforesaid groove in such relation to the cake as to equalize its pressure thereon throughout the cross sectional area thereof.

2. A dispensing machine comprising a casing providing a chamber suitable for containing the material to be dispensed in the form of a longitudinally grooved cake, a manually actuated cutter of the oscillating type adapted in operation to reduce the cake to powder and a continuously acting spring feed connected to the cutter to retract the same and arranged to exert constant pressure on the cake to advance it to the cutter, the said spring feed being positioned in the aforesaid groove in such relation to the cake as to equalize its pressure thereon throughout the cross sectional area thereof.

3. A dispensing machine comprising a casing providing a chamber suitable for containing the material to be dispensed in the form of a longitudinally grooved cake, a manually actuated cutter adapted in operation to reduce the cake to powder, the said cutter being of the oscillatory type, the activesurface movement of which does not exceed degrees, and a continuously acting spring feed connected to the cutter to retract the same and arranged to exert constant pressureon the cake to advance it to the cutter, the said spring feed being positioned in the aforesaid groove in such relation to the cake as to equalize its pressure thereon throughout the cross sectional area thereof.

4. A dispensing machine comprising a casing providing a chamber suitable for containing the material to be dispensed in the form of a longitudinally grooved cake, a manually actuated cutter adapted in operation to reduce the cake to powder, the said cutter being of the oscillatory type and semi-cylindrical in form, and a continuously acting spring feed suitably at tached to retract the cutter and arranged to exert constant pressure on the cake to advance it'to the cutter, the said spring feed being positioned in the aforesaid groove in such relation to the cake as. to equalize its pressure thereon throughout the cross sectional area thereof.

5. A dispensing machine comprising a casing providing a chamber suitable for containing the material to be dispensed in the form of a longitudinally grooved cake, a manually actuated cutter adapted in operation to reduce the cake to" pressure on the cake to advance it to the cutter. the said spring feed being positioned in the aforesaid groove in such relation to the cake as to equalize its pressure thereon throughout the cross sectional area thereof.

WALTER H. PUMPHREY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Number 1 Y Lewis Feb. 18, 1908 Number Number Name Date Egge May 9, 1916 Kendall June 19, 1923 Freedman Nov. 28, 1933 Voorhis Aug. 13, 1935 Burditt Feb. 4, 1936 Voorhis i.. Feb. 20, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Nov. 3, 1902 

